


Bittersweet Diaries

by WalkingDYED



Category: Original Work, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Bonding, Character Development, F/M, Fights, Gen, M/M, Post-Jojo's Bizarre Adventure part 5: Vento Aureo., Post-Purple Haze Feedback, Pre-JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 6: Stone Ocean, Road Trips, Spoilers, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-08-24 12:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16640222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WalkingDYED/pseuds/WalkingDYED
Summary: 2005, Venice, Italy.Amaro Liquore, Vaniglia Liujo, and Cannolo Murolo, guilty of mutiny against Passione, are quickly found by the organization and called again at arms. After forming a bizarre team out of the most unexpected members they have to do Giorno's bidding and be their bodyguards to achieve freedom.Every other chapter is written from the perspective of one of the six members of Amaro's unit. Will they achieve freedom or die trying?





	1. Amaro's Team Is Legit For Like The First Time

**Prefaction: Everyone's Rough Morning**

A loud scream broke the morning peace. And another one, this time closer. And another one, even closer. And then a last one, right behind us, which incredible force projected us on the ground and broke every window of the building. I tried to run, but my feet were frozen, unable to move. Another stand we were unaware of? My comrades mercilessly left me behind as they were too busy running for their lives. And then, when I thought I was completely alone, a figure merged behind the broken glass. A woman dressed in feathers and diamonds and bathed in blood.

“Sorority Noise!” she yelled, and a tall humanoid made out of metal and bones appeared behind her, scanning the place with bloody eyes and a soft grin. Another loud bang ensued, but this time I was able to find cover behind some crates, and then I made my escape through a back door.

 

Crawling on the ground, with my lower back still completely frozen, I couldn’t do anything but to think a way to get out of there. Out in the cold, I still was completely numbed. What was happening? Why would the organization attack us, so out in the streets, so out of the blue? Did we do something wrong? Did someone insult the boss?

Who could have done that? Albicocca, Sciroppo, Cannolo? That wasn’t the time to play the blaming game. I was bleeding out, but I had to keep crawling. In this world, you won’t go very far if you believe every lie spoon fed to you, and your body screaming that you can’t keep going, that the pain is too much; that’s maybe the biggest one. A wound on my head spat out a spurt of blood right into my eyes, and yet I kept going, grasping the ground with one hand and scrubbing off the blood with the other.

 

I was still in the backyard of the deposit, and I had to go to the main street. I tried by rolling down a small, discreet alley, hoping to escape unseen, but there was someone waiting for me there. A young man, not much younger than me, was standing in the middle of the alley. I had to scrub my eyes again before I could recognize him.

His dirty, blonde dreads. His bloodshot eyes, his bastard smile, and that fucking stupid green outfit that made him look like rotten Swiss cheese. “Pannacotta!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

The guy was just standing there, giggling to himself.

 

I should’ve asked for help, but I knew that if he was there, none would’ve come from him. “Get the fuck out! Leave me alone!”

“‘Get the fuck out’? ‘Leave me alone?’ Amaro, is that the way to greet an old friend?” he shrugged. I tried to reply, but the words got stuck in my throat. I tried calling for help, but again I couldn’t let out a sigh. Pannacotta slowly pointed his finger at me, his face disfigured in an evil, psychotic smile.

A third time I tried to scream, this time the name of my stand, but no one came. There was only Pannacotta, charging at me and screaming, while a burning purple fog started surrounding us.

 

A loud scream broke the morning peace and quickly brought me back to reality. I stood up immediately, and instead of facing an imminent danger I only founded myself in front of a scared girl, with tears flowing on her cheeks and a panting, irregular breathing. While regaining my composure, I noticed I was crying, too.

"Did we ..." she hesitated for a second, stabbing the naked, dirty mattress she was sitting on with her nails. "Did we have the same dream?"

 

I tried to reply, but once again the words were stuck in my throat, while I was choking back the tears. I just nodded.

"That was terrifying. It's not the first time ..." the girl started to calm down. Her name was Vaniglia, an ex-subordinate of mine.

"Don't be like that ..." I finally managed to speak, "Remember that if you keep on with this job, at some point you'll eventually-"

"Get killed?" she tried to finish my line. I got up from my own dirty mattress and started stretching.

"I was talking more about getting used. To the dreams, you know. Just part of the job." I tried comforting her, and in response she just fucking stabbed me.

"Well, you've "kept on with this job" for what, five years now and you'll still crying like a bitch, so ..."

"... Shut up."

 

I went for the exit to take a breath of fresh air when I heard some weird noises coming from behind some crates, followed by a disgusting stench. I pulled out the flip knife and went to see, just to find Cannolo having his breakfast, composed of beans, sweet onions and stale bread.

"Good morning, sunshine." he snorted. "You're just like a dog, mate."

"What does that even mean?"

"You squirm a lot in your sleep, like a pup. Were you having fun, mate?"

 

I preferred to ignore that creepy line and to actually head out. For around twenty minutes I just enjoyed the cold breeze of the morning on my face. I tried reaching for a cigarette. Whoops, finished them all. Nevermind. Just when I was about to head in again, I spotted a familiar face in the distance, and immediately threw myself inside.

"Change of plans, change of plans, everyone!"

 

Vaniglia had joined Cannolo for breakfast, and the two of them looked at me with a terrifyingly mean gaze of annoyance. "Vatdodammean?" asked the girl, with her mouse full of beans. "That we're leaving. Again. This place ain't safe anymore."

"VATDODAMMEAN" she screamed again, spitting out bits of sweet onions. Disgusting.

"Don't force yourself, darling. I'll deal with this." Cannolo patted Vaniglia on the back, and then looked straight at me. "Amaro, shut the fuck up."

I tried to reply with more insults when someone banged on the front door.

"Come on, let's not be paranoid now." laughed the old man, standing up and pushing me out of the way.

"Cannolo, you open that door and I'll fuck you up." I threatened him, and he just scoffed it off and opened the door anyway.

 

"Oh, hello boss. I bet I know who you're looking for!"

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Chapter 1: Amaro's Team Is Legit For Like The First Time**

 

While I was trying to flee, Vaniglia grabbed me by the hair and pushed me on the ground while Cannolo was dealing with the unexpected guest.

"So boss, you wanna come in or what?"

"I would love that." the man let himself in, while his escort decided to guard the exit.

He was wearing a blue and pink suit, decorated with small insect-shaped jewels and buttons. His neatly combed gold hair and his turquoise gaze were blindingly beautiful, and his smile one of the most sincere I've ever seen. Meet Giorno Giovanna, Passione's ALLEGED new boss.

 

"Buongiorno, Amaro."

Mama Amaro always said "if you need to swear, shut up", so I kept my mouth shut, while Vaniglia was bawling her eyes out, screaming "Capo Giorno, capo Giorno is here!"

Giorno shrugged my cold shoulder off. "I guess we're not in the best of terms, are we? Listen, I've brought a Chianti, how about we talk this out?"

 

And so there we were, drinking five hundred euro Chianti from paper glasses in the middle of an empty deposit. I was shivering, not sure if I had to run for my life or wait and see, but the sole thought of having Giorno so near me-

"So, you live in an abandoned deposit now." he noted out of the blue, interrupting my train of thoughts.

"Seems so." was the only thing I was able to say.

"And you know why?"

"Do YOU know why?" Cannolo and Vaniglia were frozen, hypnotized by the meaningless back and forth.

"Come on, Amaro." Giorno's voice completely changed, as well as his posture, taking a more relaxed note. "You can't run from this forever. You know there's no way out of this. Stop acting like you're still working for Diavolo, it's useless. What did you tell to these poor guys, anyway ... Do they know you're not a capo no more?"

"W-we know what happened." Cannolo tried to have his take on the situation. "But we can't just abandon our capo, boss."

 

Giorno took a long sip at the Chianti. "Cannolo, Cannolo, Cannolo ... Why do you always get involved in these kinds of shenanigans?"

"What are you doing in here?!", I shouted, slamming my hand on the floor.

Giorno didn't reply. He just kept drinking, with those composed gestures of his, without even looking at me, like he was ignoring me.

"Capo Giorno Giovanna!" I called him by his full title, which immediately grabbed his attention. Guess it was what he was going for. "Capo Diavolo and Capo Polpo gave me everything I could ever dream of. I refuse to serve the man who killed them."

"So ... That's what you want. You don't want this role. You want to run away." he sighed. "I see that you've, somehow, made a bond strong enough with your subordinates, to the point where they'll follow you anywhere. Even against the odds, and to who's stronger than you. They wouldn't be there if this wasn't the case. Can't let such talent go to waste."

 

The air became so tense and thick I started having troubles breathing, and yet Giorno seemed perfectly calm.

"That's why I want to make a deal, with you. Come to Napoli for a while. Become my bodyguard. I'll give you a team, and restore any power you had before my promotion as the boss. And if you succeed, you'll be the first one to get out of Passione alive."

I swallowed the entire glass of wine, and my heart started beating like it never did.

"But if you fail, or you refuse of course, we'll meet again. But the next time I won't be this reasonable. Capito?" and without waiting for a response, he just jumped on his feet and headed for the door. "Come to Napoli. You have three days. As for now, even though it's completely pointless and just a formality, you and your team are officially 'team Amaro', the new Guardie del Corpo. Congrats. Arrivederci." he smiled.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning was unexpectedly warm. Not sure if it was just me, though, as Vaniglia and Cannolo were both heavily coated against the morning cold. I remember being strangely impatient, that morning. We had six days to go from Venezia to Napoli, which usually takes around five to eight hours by train, depending on the routes you choose and the trains you take. And yet, while standing near the Church of San Simeone I found myself crossing the canal up to Venice's train station with my ability without even realizing it, with much dismay of my subordinates, who instead had to hurry and take the mainstream way through the city's line of bridges.

 

The idea of freedom so close to me was exhilarating, to the point where I was almost forgetting the job I got myself into. I tried to stay optimistic, though, and to enjoy the trip. Cannolo managed to steal two tickets for a VIP carriage with his ability, while Vaniglia and I bribed the last one from the train staff, instead. Every private carriage was composed of isolated, fairly small rooms, about 4x4x4 meters, with one coffee table, four padded seats and a high up compartment to hold our luggage, which wasn't much for that trip: just one, half-empty suitcase. Cannolo went for the compartment and tried to fit the bag in it. He failed and then tried again. Then failed again. He stood on his toes hoping to reach the shelf, but he failed again.

 

"Gimme that." Vaniglia promptly snatched the suitcase out of his hand and put it in the compartment in one swift swoop, while ignoring the old man's insults. Vaniglia Liujo, that's her name. At the time a 16 years old girl, and still the youngest subordinate I ever had under my wing. Really tall girl and really cocky about it, with silver-colored hair and an agile and slim figure, adorned by her signature outfits covered in golden and white feathers. Also a really clever, aggressive girl, I say. Even if I never admitted it in front of her, I always respected the way she talked back at me and treated me more as a fellow minion more than the minions' boss. It always gave me the feeling she'll never struggle in this life. She's not the person who does. Brown nosing yourself can keep you going so much; what really counts is your determination, I say.

 

And while I was daydreaming about describing her and her qualities to a crowd, she went for the kill, pushed me away and stole the seat near the window, the one I claimed was mine. Bitch.

 

The train departed after about fifteen minutes, with the speakers announcing that we would've reached our destination in around five hours. "Five hours?! We'll be in Napoli in just FIVE hours?!" The girl never rode on a train before, and managed to hid her excitement till that moment. She was genuinely amazed by the speed and class of such a vehicle, so Cannolo gained a special delight in ruining her joy.

"This train's final destination is Rome, mate. Then we'll have to wait until the evening for the Roma-Napoli ride." "FUCK." "Agreed, mate."

The train quickly took the Ponte della Libertà (Bridge of Freedom). A beautiful place, maybe my favorite in all of the country. It's a completely straight bridge, slightly above sea-level and long about four kilometers, which connects the islands of Venice to the rest of Italy. A mesmerizing sight of the Adriatic Sea feels like riding through the ocean on a dolphin's back. My ecstasy for the view was however disturbed by the fact that Cannolo and Vaniglia didn't join me in the contemplation of the scenery. Instead, they completely ignored it, and started a game of trump, despite being the two occupying the window seats. "Wanna play a game, boss?" Cannolo looked at me, and by his cocky grin I could tell he was ignoring the beauty my city offered him just to spite me.

 

Cannolo Murolo was, instead, the oldest subordinate I ever had, with his thirty four years old. Almost thirty five, but he looked like he had twenty more. At least. Always wearing old-fashioned dirt-colored clothes from the sixties, all culminating in a borsalino that he used to cover his balding head. A really short, really thin man with a creaky voice. Before he joined my team, people always described him as a very sour, grumpy slob who did not care for anyone but himself, but after meeting him I would've said that he was just a hotheaded and saucy man, maybe a bit of a loner, who really took pleasure in teasing his allies and giving himself a sense of importance, but he wasn't that bad overall. Had some good times with him, and I admired his extensive knowledge of wines and whiskeys.

 

The train suddenly stopped, and people started getting up and getting off the ride: we arrived in Mestre, the first stop of many to endure before arriving in Rome. As the train left the station, however, somebody knocked on the door. That couldn't have been the inspector, as they usually just burst in.

"... Yeah, come in?" I burped out after a moment of hesitation. It was probably just the fourth passenger of our carriage, but you can never be sure. Vaniglia had already the money ready to bribe them away, while Cannolo thought it was funnier and more efficient to just show them one "magic card tricks" of his.

 

A man entered, politely waved his hands at us and took sit in the empty place. He was a buff, large man around Cannolo's age, with blue, warm eyes and a thick hairdo, of a dirty gold. Basically, the perfect opposite of old man Murolo, a detail that he too noticed. The man waited a bit before speaking, like he tried to remember something important. Which was probably the Italian language, as his thick americano accent immediately sold his motherland on us.

"Howdy." both I and Vaniglia politely smiled at him, while Cannolo gave him a thousand yard stare. Whether it was out of suspicion or because he was envying the guy's hair, I still can't say.

"What's your name, mistah?" the girl asked him, nonchalantly.

"You're Amaro, right?" the man ignored the question and instead looked straight at me, leaning forward on the coffee table. "Amaro Liquore?"

 

The silence fell on the carriage. Even the train seemed to have stopped making noise. I had no idea what to do, and Vaniglia and Cannolo didn't either. "... What if I am?"

We were so fucked. We didn't have any weapons on us, they were all in the luggage and there was no time to reach it. We were completely harmless; we couldn't even use our abilities. It was too risky to use mine: most probable case scenario, the only thing it would have done was project me out of the train to certain death. Cannolo's wasn't an offensive ability, and while Vaniglia's was one, it was too dangerous to use in such a small fighting ground. Tired of waiting, the mysterious americano jumped over the table and went right for me. He put his arms behind my head and started squeezing me on his chest. What kind of attack is tha-wait. Wait a second. That's a hug. The guy was hugging me.

 

The man quickly jumped over the table again and landed on his seat. "Whoa, sorry padner. But finally! I thought I'd never get to find you! I was getting desperate, you know?!"

He punched his own guts and assumed a calm face. "Horse. My name's Hol Horse. I'm your new ... Err ... Whatchucalleet ... Padner in crime, yes." he exclaimed, trying to make it sound like a technical term. "Passione sent me here, as an apprentice."

 

"Aight mate, I'm calling the inspector." Cannolo quickly jumped over him and headed to the hallways.


	2. Vaniglia's Knowledge about Cars is Very Selective

"My name ... Is Hol Horse! I'm number #2!"  
"You ... Already said that." Amaro started to grow annoyed by the cowboy's inability to shut up, while Cannolo was still running loose through the train, searching for some uniforms to bother or some other ways to waste time. I quickly glanced at the capo, and he had his head on his hands, completely messed up by the surrealness of Hol Horse's character.

Amaro Livorno Liquore, who simply goes by the name of Amaro, was once the leader of La Squadra di Spionaggio d'Amaro, Amaro's Espionage Unit, a team specialized in take outs and infiltrating the enemy lines composed of Albicocca, Sciroppo, Liquirizia and Liquore himself. A quartet of ruthless spies and mercenaries that worked for around one year before losing three out of its four members four years ago. Instead of giving up or accepting death, Amaro somehow managed to escape his hunters and to avoid the wrath of his superiors.

Under his wing, Cannolo and I didn't really do much. We just followed him while he was hiding from Giorno through Italy. It doesn't matter if your boss is a bastard or a dumbass, you gotta follow him through hell and back; that's what Murolo always told me.

The cowboy went on blabbering for at least ten more minutes, whether we were listening to him or not; something about trips in Egypt and past loves and one night stands. He kept on with his chattering for what seemed like ages, when something turned him silent. He kept on daydreaming for a while, and then he pulled out a gun out of thin air.

Amaro's fight or flight response immediately kicked in, as he tried to flee by throwing himself out in the hallway, but I promptly held him in his seat: if Hol Horse wanted to attack us he would've done it earlier when he entered the cabin, and not now that he had no knowledge of Cannolo's position.

Hol Horse didn't seem to understand the situation, as he looked quite confused while he was still pointing his stand at us.  
He wasn't an enemy.  
He was just a dumbass.

"Sorry." he muttered, as the gun compenetrated into his fingers and slowly vanished.  
"You know, in this kind of "business" you shouldn't show your abilities like that to people you don't know." I scolded him. Amaro rapidly gazed at me, surprised that I remembered that quote.  
"Umpf, scolded by a little kid like this ..." Hol Horse grunted, before rapidly changing subject. "So miss, what is your name?"  
I looked at Amaro again, not sure if I should've complied or not. His expression was saying "heh, as long as it keeps him from doing stupid bullshit". The train started to slow down. "We're about to stop again. This is going to be a long trip." he muttered.

"Vaniglia. Vaniglia Liujo."  
"Miss Liujo!" he exploded. "What a beautiful name, fitting of a beautiful girl! Feels like we've been knowing each other for years! And now that I know your name and you know mine, we surely DO know each other!"  
"..."  
"..."  
He pulled out his gun again. Amaro went back with his head between his hands.  
"My stand's named Emperor. It has infinite ammo, remote-controlled bullets and-" he tried to scoff away my look of mixed anger and misbelieve. "-Listen, if I have to work with y'all, you should know what I can do. I'm the mere brawn, y'all are the brain!"

In that exact moment, someone entered the carriage without knocking. It was Cannolo, wearing a cocky expression and with a ticket inspector besides him.  
The man in uniform looked at me and Amaro. Then at Hol Horse. Then at us again. Then at Emperor. Then to the gun strapped to his own hip.

Suddenly, Amaro jumped on the table and mocked the officer. "No one will believe you." - before headbutting full-force the window. Instead of breaking a few vertebrae, the boss found himself out of the train, completely unharmed. Cannolo then pushed the cop to the ground, knocked him unconscious and followed Amaro's example. I looked at Hol Horse as he did the same, still managing to bonk his head on the way out. I was the last one to leave, right as the train was leaving the station again.

* * *

 

Amaro immediately recognized which city we were in: Padova.  
Padova, or Padua, nicknamed "The City of the Students" and "The City of Doctors" in tales, idioms and ancient times, is one of Italy's most ancient cities, notorious for its prestigious university, lavish churches and plazas, and its botanical garden!

"There's no time for sightseeing." Amaro replied, like he was reading my mind.  
"You, Cannolo, come here a sec'." he whispered. The moment Cannolo was near enoug, Amaro grabbed his face and sank the sharp ring on his hand into his cheek.  
"What the fuck was that?!" the boss growled.  
"Boss, boss, mate, I can explain!" the blood started flowing out of its wound, as Amaro didn't ease his clench. "What if it was a test? What if it was a hitman sent by Giorno? Or maybe just some random psycho!"  
"Don't fuck with me. You did this shit because you thought it was funny to shit on the new guy, right?"  
"... Kinda?" Amaro took a deep breath, still without releasing Cannolo.

"Geez ..." Hol Horse sighed, as he lit up a cigarette. Amaro smelled the smoke, and gazed horribly at him.  
"I don't have no more of them, sorry ..." the cowboy gulped.  
In response, the boss released Cannolo and quickly snatched the cigarette away from Hol Horse's lips using his talon-shaped, still blood-soaked ring. He then turned completely silent and started walking away. Hol Horse had to process what just happened for a second or two.  
"... That wasn't very nice."

Amaro quickly led us to some tavern a couple of minutes from the station. Without acknowledging nothing nor no one, he took seat at a table deep far into the building, and we did the same. A waitress approached us, with a disdained look on her face. "Do you guys have a reservation? I wouldn't say so. Tell me, should I call the police or you guys can find the exit by yourselves?"  
Reminder: italian waiters are usually really friendly, but not to loiterers.  
Amaro leaned towards the lady and just whispered: "We are Passione."  
The girl shivered for a moment. "... I'm sorry, sirs and ma'am. And my deepest apologies, Don ... ?"  
"Don Amaro. Pleased."  
Shit. That felt so good. So fucking good. We were someone again. We were feared, we were respected! And although he always tries to hide it, Amaro loves being feared as much as any other gangster, if not much more.  
"What can I bring you, Don Amaro?"  
Liquore turned at us. His eyes were sparkling. "Come on, guys. It's on the house. Isn't it, miss?"

We waited for our lunch in complete silence.  
Amaro was sitting at the top of the table, menacingly staring at us with a darkened expression on his face. He just looked so pissed off, like he was about to grab a knife and stab someone. The air was tense, and we could almost feel Amaro holding back his need to shout at Cannolo again, who instead looked quite calm. He was just sitting there, right next to Amaro, playing solitaire with his deck of cards. Like he didn't know that, if Amaro happened to actually put his thoughts into actions, he would've probably killed him.  
After an excruciating wait, the waitress came back balancing four dishes on her arms and holding a bottle between her legs.  
Cannolo asked for a caprese salad covered in vinegar, while Amaro wanted the blue-rare steak. Hol Horse wanted to try the pizza, while I went for the fillet mignon, covered in mushrooms.  
The bottle was a fine vino raboso: Amaro's favorite.  
We immediately started to dig in; I couldn't remember my last fresh meal. I was tearing up, and without realizing it I immediately stuffed the whole thing into my mouth. Mr. Cowboy, on the other hand, looked hesitant to eat. He just kept on looking at Amaro and Cannolo, and at how they were eating one next to the other, like pals. Like Amaro wasn't fuming, like Cannolo's cheek wasn't coagulating over a fresh wound.

I tried to reassure him. "It's just a matter of time. Wait for it ..."  
And bam. The moment Amaro gulped down the last drop of wine, he looked like a new man. His face was wiped off of every grudge he was holding, and those were replaced with an enormous smile. Even his eye bags looked smaller, and his eyes brighter.  
"Welcome back, boss." mumbled Cannolo, while still munching down his salad.  
"So, what's the plan, what's the plan ..." Amaro quickly stood up of the table, completely lost in his thoughts as the last hours never happened. I whistled at him, to grab his attention. "We have around five days to reach Napoli, capo. Public trans' is out of question: we already made too much confusion, it will be hard to bribe us out of problems if we get recognized."  
"Ding ding ding, nice output. What time is it?"  
"Almost one pm."  
"Great! Vaniglia, this is a perfect moment to use your stand!"  
Hol Horse almost chocked, and so did I, honestly. I hesitated. "What should I do?"  
"Get it out, first of all."  
"Shut your eyes, weirdo." I hissed at Hol Horse, and Cannolo backed me up.  
"That's right. You don't know us, we don't know you. Shut them."

Amaro had that kind of twisted smile, the kind he has when he thinks he's all figured out. Cannolo was smelling the air, trying to guess the plan, while Hol Horse actually complied, and was covering his eyes with his hands. "That ain't fair, though. I showed you mine!"  
"And that went perfectly, right mate?"  
I took a deep breath, and called her name.

"Sorority Noise."

I immediately felt a heavy weight on my shoulders. "Here she is!"  
The stand jumped from my back to the table. Sorority Noise, the iron and golden harpy. A beautiful, slim, and busty girl, covered in feathers and jewels.  
"Always a beautiful sight." Cannolo smiled. "You really grew up, girl."  
"Shut up, Can'."  
"I bet he's right." Hol Horse tried to join in, while still covering his eyes.  
"I said shut up!"  
"The other form, Vaniglia." whispered Amaro, and I complied. Sorority Noise started hunching and thickening herself, until she started to look like a chubby chicken with a human head.  
"... Such a beauty!" Cannolo started laughing uncontrollably. "It never gets old!"

"Amaro, hurry the fuck up. What do I do with it?"  
"The industrial sector of the city is around three, maybe four miles, West from here. Go there and find a big corporate building."  
"Gotcha. You heard?" I asked Sorority, and she just growled, as a pair of aviator goggles and a microphone appeared on her face. She took a running start and flew out of a window, screeching.

Not even a couple minutes later, I started hearing her calling my name.  
"She found something. Let's go!"

 

* * *

 

We headed out on the streets and started running until we reached a giant, glass building. Big, red letters soared on his top, spelling the name of a famous cable company.  
We reached the entrance of its parking lot. It looked like the outside of a fortress: a thick marble wall and iron gates surrounded the cars, so high we couldn't actually peek at them.  
"... I think I'm starting to see the plan." smirked Cannolo.  
Amaro snapped his fingers at me. "Where's Sorority?"  
I pointed at the sky: my stand was flying in circle above the parking lot, like an angry condor.  
"Great. She must find a big car. Big enough to all of us."  
Hol Horse leaned against Amaro. "So much for not making much confusion! Stealing a car in a place like this makes A LOT of confusion! You can't call it "bribing" if it's our bail money!"  
Amaro gaggled at him. "Look at the time." It was a quarter past 1 PM. "You know what time it is? Lunch time."  
Hol Horse still wasn't following. "Eh?"  
"A place as big as this MUST have its own cafeteria. I doubt a place as professional as this would just let its employees take their time by visiting a Starbucks or stuff like that. In other words ..."  
"Everyone is busy eating, right now. And considering how protected is this lot, there's probably no human security guarding it. Just cameras and stuff." Cannolo continued. "Also, it's complicated paper-work-stuff-thing in there. They probably won't come out until 6 PM. At least. Five more hours."  
"The moment these guys leave work we'll already be in Rome. Worst case scenario, we ditch the car and go from there to Napoli by foot or bus."  
Hol Horse wasn't buying it. "There's still a wall between us and the cars, too. Do you have a plan for that, too?"

Amaro ignored him, and gazed at me. "So, what did she find?"  
"How about ... A white 2006 Nissan, model Pathfinder ELS."  
"Sounds ... Nice?"  
"It's a SUV. Seven seats. This model in particular is great: it has a security defect, it's rather easy to jump-start it."  
Amaro's face wore its twisted smile again. "Neat."

"They're going in, mate." Cannolo smiled at the capo.  
"Wait, who's going where?" Hol Horse was more and more confused. Cannolo simply pointed at the gates: there were exactly fiftytwo playing cards walking on the walls with their little, stubby legs and stick-like arms. "Remember." Amaro warned him. "Normal people can see them too, you know."  
"That would just make things funnier."  
"Don't you dare."  
I looked around, hoping not to find any eye witnesses. As expected, the streets were rather empty; this whole block of buildings probably has personal restaurants and strict hours.  
The little cards climbed over the security cameras and started moving their lens away from the centre of the parking lot, where the car was located.

"How is that a real thing?" Hol Horse poked Cannolo. "You have over fifty stands at once?"  
"It's ... Nevermind, you wouldn't understand." Cannolo smirked at him, as the little cards finished their job. "Watchtowers, come back!"  
"My turn now." Amaro took a deep breath, and disappeared into the ground. The sentient cards which tarried to go back into the deck were the only one close enough to spot an unruly patch of hair under the SUV, but just for a few seconds.  
Amaro's face came out of the ground on our side of the gate.  
"Okay, now it's your turn again, Vaniglia."  
"Wait, what should I do instead?" Hol Horse looked kind of offended. "I have a mission to, don't I?"  
"Yeah. You see that guy over there, the guy in that shop?"  
"Yeah? What about him?"  
"Go buy a couple packs of cigs, do a favor for both of us." said Amaro, as he helped me rolling down the invisible hole in the ground. "There's also a hole under the car, you should be able to just swoop right inside of it."

I always hated wondering inside of Amaro's tunnels. You can't feel anything, you can't see anything. The worst thing is that you can't see where they start or where they end, so you just gotta cross your finger. You gotta hope there's an end. My worst nightmares start with me entering one of Amaro's tunnel and never being able to find its exit.  
They say a stand appearance and ability are linked to its user's personality.  
Amaro is a spy, and a mercenary, and a traitor. But so are Cannolo and I, and yet we have something way less terrifying. And while I was spacing out about the capo, I started feeling the cool breeze of the midday on my forehead; the exit.  
Just as he said, I found myself inside the car the moment I could see again.  
One try. Not enough.  
Second try and the engine started roaring. Cannolo's Joker, the only card left out of the deck, jumped in the look-out post and opened the gate.  
I drove beside the guys and they almost dived inside of the car, as we drove towards the highway ... But not before driving half a mile on the wrong side of the road.  
"What are you doing?!" Hol Horse screamed right into my ear.  
"Sorry, sorry, I forgot the right side!"  
"How do you forget it? Where did you get your license?!"  
"I am fourteen! I don't know how to drive!"  
"What?! Why are you then?!"  
"Yeah, we don't have a license." Amaro and Cannolo's voices echoed from the backseats.  
"Neither does she though!" Hol Horse looked like he was going to have a stroke.  
We kept on driving South. Next destination: Rome.  
... The moment I remember how to use a manual clutch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hewwo, it's me, the author.  
> I'll say it very frankly, I don't like myself the first half of this chapter. Really hope to improve with the next chapters.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, tho. <3


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